cjmrdm - pool cleaner

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cjmrdm

Well-known member
Feb 1, 2013
66
Peoria Arizona
Pool Size
15000
I am having a similar problem with my pool cleaner. It is the same model and it moves but it is super slow. The RPM's are about 3. It used to work and just started going slow out of no where. I have cleaned out all filters. I have adjusted the 3 way valve and nothing is helping. I have taken apart the cleaner itself and it looks good. I tried increasing the pressure on the pump from 2500 to 3500 ...BIG MISTAKE!! lol I blew off the top of the DE filter. So, I wont be doing that again. It also has never climbed the walls.

The wheels are down to the top of the notches so it might be time to replace them but I dont imagine this is the reason it is slow.

The only other strange thing my pool does is when I first turn on the pump a lot of bubbles come from the pipes in my pool ( the ones in the side of the pool that the water for circulating comes out of). This has never seemed normal to me but I have no idea what is causing it. I also dont know if this is related. I am totally stumped.

Please help! Thanks!!!
 
cjmrdm, I would be looking for a suction side leak if I were you. Bubbles coming out of the jets indicate air being sucked in on the inlet side.

The first thing that comes to mind is the hose for your pool cleaner. If the hose has a crack or break at any of the joints, it will suck air (causing bubbles in return). It would also lower the suction pressure on your cleaner, causing low rpm.

Check your hose, see if it is cracked or broken.
 
Thank you for your help. I will start trouble shooting tomorrow. I have a o ring on a connector that drips and I have been needing to replace but I cant imagine all this air is coming from that. What is a good method to checking the tubing? Honestly, I dont think it is this because it is only about a year old. I have read some older post on the bubble problem and it says to look at the water level...this is fine and not the issue. It says to look at the gasket to the pump cover but I dont think there is a gasket on the lid. Should there be a gasket on the lid?

I also saw one that said to run water over the pump basket. This solution helped the other poster but I dont quite understand what I am supposed to do. Do I just run a hose over the pump lid? What am I looking for?

Thank you so much in advance!!!

Robyn
 
Yes. Okay, there is an o ring and I changed it out. There are still bubbles. I took off the cleaner completely to eliminate the hoses as a possibility and it still bubbles. So, I have read I should check the lines before the pump as they may be leaking. i tried putting the hose over it but I can not tell if it sucking water in. Any other suggestions for checking this?

I do have a leak in the jandy valve .. I have a gasket on order. Could the Intermatic Jandy valve be causing this problem or is this "after the pump"?
 
IMG_3207.jpgIMG_3207.jpg

I believe it is the Jandy on the pressure side. I have attached a picture. It is the one one the far left.

I was going to buy some incense and see if I saw the smoke being sucked in to any of the pipe fitting on the suction side to see if there is a leak. I may also change out the orings in the Jandy valve on the suction side just in case.

If the leak is in a pipe fitting. Can I just use a silicone caulk and to around the pipe fitting?

I am just at a loss. I pray it is not in anything underground.
 
okay, so I have changes all the o-rings on all the Jandy valves. I have checked the lid and it appears fine. I have taken off the cleaner to rule out the tubing and that is fine. The water level is fine. I till have bubbles. So, the only thing left that I can think of is to put a silicone caulking around all the fittings on the suction side.

Any other ideas???

Still praying it is nothing underground!!!
 
In your original post, you mention the bubbles happen when you first turn on your pump.

Does that mean that after the pump runs a little bit or primes, that the bubbles stop?
Does your VS pump go into Priming mode high speed when it starts up and then revert to lower speed once primed?

If the bubbles stop after the pump runs a minute, then there is likely nothing wrong with your plumbing. If you had a leak in it, it would continue to blow bubbles.

Mine does similiar....When my Pentair pump comes on in prime speed, (3110 RPM), its so powerful, it causes a bit of a vortex in the skimmer which sucks in air into the system. I overcome this by keeping the water level a tad higher than the normal "middle of the skimmer" level.

Just my take on the lid of the filter blowing off at 3500 rpm.... that wont happen if the metal ring that secures the lid is on tight. I suspect it wasn't tightened down sufficiently for whatever reason. The filter is designed to take considerably more pressure than what is normally present, even at 3500 RPM's.
 

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Yes, when I first turn on the pump it is a a higher speed and then it reverts to a lower speed.
The bubbles in the pool do stop after the first start up. However the bubbles are quite violent when it is first turned on. You can hear it. They are big, loud giant bubbles. It does not seem normal. I wonder if i could post a video on here to show you?

When I look at the pump lid I can see there are some bubbles traveling through the system. It does lessen as it runs and turns into just a few small bubbles.

It really does not seem normal.....
And, then I still have the issue that my pool cleaner does not work properly. It should have an RPM of 11-13 but mine is about 2-3 RPM. It is losing suction somewhere.

Thanks for the input on the lid blowing off. I figured it should be able to take it since it was a setting on the pump. It is hard to know how tight the ring is. It says not to over tighten so its always a guess.
 
Yes, it is full of water when I start it.

I just went out and watched it again and it did not do the violent bubbles this time. It i=did still bubble and I watched the pot for awhile and it looks like it shoots bubbles in the pot. It does lessen as time goes on and after a few minutes there are just a few spurts of bubbles being pulled into the pot. If that makes sense. The bubbles coming out of the pool jets stop though. So, I am at a loss. The pool cleaner just does not go fast enough. It does not get enough suction.
 
I just went out again to adjust the jandy valve skimmer/cleaner and it helped the cleaner go from not moving at all to about 2-3 RPM. I think I actually have resolved the bubble issue. It bubbles a little but nothing like before. I think all the o-rings helped. So, now I just need to figure out why my dang cleaner is not getting enough suction.

What is a good way to check for leaks in the cleaner hose?
 
The symptoms you are describing are a tiny, slow leak of air getting into the system. It can be anywhere in the system (pressure or suction) and very difficult to find. Do you see water dripping anywhere on the pressure side?

When your pump shuts off, a very tiny air leak starts allowing water to return to the pool. If you leave the pump off for days, the amount of air in the system will be very significant. If you leave the pump off for an hour or two, the water loss is insignificant.

None of that has anything to do with the poor performance of your pool vac, however. You will have to keep adjusting and experimenting with it to find the "sweet spot" where it will work.......or perhaps get a robot.

How big is your pool? please put your city and state in your sig.

If you had significant leaking in your vac hose, you would see a large volume of air bubbles in the pump basket.
 
duraleigh said:
The symptoms you are describing are a tiny, slow leak of air getting into the system. It can be anywhere in the system (pressure or suction) and very difficult to find. Do you see water dripping anywhere on the pressure side?

When your pump shuts off, a very tiny air leak starts allowing water to return to the pool. If you leave the pump off for days, the amount of air in the system will be very significant. If you leave the pump off for an hour or two, the water loss is insignificant.

None of that has anything to do with the poor performance of your pool vac, however. You will have to keep adjusting and experimenting with it to find the "sweet spot" where it will work.......or perhaps get a robot.

How big is your pool? please put your city and state in your sig.

If you had significant leaking in your vac hose, you would see a large volume of air bubbles in the pump basket.
Click to expand...

I do not see water dripping anywhere. There was a leak in the pressure side Jandy Valve but I fixed that.

I wonder if I should put silicone on all the joints?
I tried to check for a leak with the smoke from an incense but I live in a super windy place and it was not happening.

I dont think I can move the adjuster anymore without shutting off the skimmer all together. And, what is frustrating is that it used to work just fine in the current position. Something happened....what is the question.
 
Do not us silicone on the joints. Won't tell you anything, really, and you will have a mess should you ever need to clean it up.

I think you have two issues here that are not related. A slow leak somewhere in your circulatory system is one and the other is your cleaner not working. I cannot help with the cleaner and that seems to be your most pressing problem.
 

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